March 5, 2025 The Honorable Donald J. Trump President of the United States 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Subj: Formal request to #LandBack the Presidio of San Francisco Dear Mr. President: On behalf of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, I would like to express our sincere gratitude for your recent proposal to dissolve the Presidio Trust. Of course, this is an opportunity for your administration to make the federal government smaller, less expensive, more focused, and less prone to waste, fraud, and abuse. For too many decades, the Presidio Trust has been the political patronage playground of former Senator Diane Feinstein and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi – who for decades have acted against the interests of our tribe. The lucrative base of patronage has been influenced by Sen. Feinstein and Rep. Pelosi, who both live within blocks of this section of San Francisco. Both elected officials have been staunchly opposed to our Tribe’s 45-year long struggle to affirm its federal status. When the Tribe submitted a Right of First Refusal to the federal government during the decommissioning of the military installation in 1992, both women were opposed. “I don’t want an Indian Tribe in my City,” Feinstein told the former Tribal Chairwoman at the time, a statement that still offends the Tribe today. Feinstein, Pelosi, and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, are widely seen as the Tribe’s most ardent enemies. But we see this as much more than just one opportunity to make the federal government more efficient. Our People see this an enormous and historic opportunity to acknowledge injustices faced by California Indians, and would constitute the boldest #LandBack act of rematriation in American history. Our People have never ceded, surrendered, or in any way abrogated aboriginal title to the Presidio, which the Spanish began occupying without a deed or transfer of title. The rightful return of the Presidio of San Francisco to its aboriginal title holders would constitute an extraordinary act of reconciliation. During the Spanish conquest, the fortress was used as a prison where were captured before being enslaved at three Bay Area missions: Mission Delores (San Francisco), Mission Santa Clara, and Mission San Jose. We have long maintained a deep cultural and spiritual connection to the Presidio lands, which have been integral to our identity and heritage for countless generations. We believe that the return of our ancestral lands is not only a matter of justice but also holds substantial fiscal and political implications that can benefit the tribe, local communities, and the federal government: 1. Fiscal Benefits. Transferring the management of the Presidio back to the Tribe would enable a hyper-local approach to the management of a treasured national parkscape – and would do so in a way that relieves federal, state, and local taxpayers from the burden of its operating costs. Our Tribe has extensive traditional ecological knowledge and will deliver superior and more sustainable land management practices, at a far lower cost than the federal agency currently expends.
Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay 1169 South Main Street, #336 Manteca, CA 95337 Muwekma.org [email protected] The Office of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribal Council Muwekma.org [email protected] (408) 464-2892 [email protected] 2
Charlene Nijmeh Chairwoman CC: Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs